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Thursday, July 29, 2010

Today I get to reveal the final bathroom update pictures, from beginning to end! These are always the most fun posts to share, and this time around, I certainly am ecstatic about the outcome of the projects! Sure, the space got a total face lift with the help of my best friend, Mr. Paint, however, it also gained boatloads of necessary storage! And being one of the most visited and used rooms in our house, for all reasons bathrooms are, having good storage helps make using the space so much more pleasant and efficient.

So what types of storage was I lacking in the space? Towels/hand towels/washcloths and extra toilet paper were all hanging out in a linen closet way down the hall. Bathtub toys were typically left on the bottom of the tub since they had no place to call home and there was no room to keep out Qtips or bars of soap. Toothbrushes lived in a cup that also was used for rinsing, on the counter of the sink, causing some eye clutter in the teeny tiny space.

All of those storage issues were solved within the bathroom update, and for a cost that I was really happy with. And we all know how organized storage gets my heart racing... almost as much as it does for my hunky hub!

There is a ton that went on over the three days of bathroom updates, so I will try to keep it as to the point as I can, although, as you know, I am really awesome at rambling...

So without further ado, here again are the before pictures:

Previous bathroom was a two toned Navajo White and Grape Leaves Green. Not including the tub, the bathroom is a solid 5'x5.5'! That's IT! So, I needed to get creative with adding functionality to the itty bitty space.

I started by painting the bathroom a solid lighter and more soothing color. I also primed and painted the vanity cabinet from Volcanic Brown to the Navajo White that is on the kitchen cabinets and also used to be on some of the bathroom walls.

The space already felt SO much bigger just by updating the color pallet! Wahoo for the $33 paint investment!

Next we focused on creating appropriate towel storage for our three growing boys. The towel bar made it challenging to to hang three towels, so one would typically be found draped over the shower curtain bar. Plus, identifying who's towel was who's was also somewhat difficult unless all three used a different color.

I made some simple updates to plain flower wall hooks, by adding a wooden plaque covered in decorative paper and embellished with a number for each little man! Towel confusion, solved!

These two projects already created tremendous help, but there was one more major component that I haven't quite touched on yet....

Where to put all the extra towels, toilet paper, accessories, bath toys.... I scoured the internet to find a shelving unit sizely enough to hold everything I wanted it too, however, it also needed to not invade on the already small space. That's when I found this bookcase from Ikea:

It measured only 11" deep and 79 1/2" tall! Talk about using vertical space! Bingo! We snagged this baby for $60 smackaroos!

Here it is assembled and placed in our new bath haven:

But I wasn't uber excited about it's "big box store" appearance. Oh what to do....I wanted to wallpaper, but the cost of a single roll would be insanely too high for this cheapo makeover. And I was nervous that wrapping paper would wrinkle in a highly damp space.

Thank goodness for my pal Emily, who sent me a little email about a blog that offered some inspiration! It contained a link to a quatrefoil pattern that was used as inspiration for an AMAZING pantry makeover. One look at the pattern and I thought it would be a dead ringer option for the backing of this cabinet!

Although I was crazy nervous since I have NEVER once in my entire being, stenciled anything other than some ABC letters on kid's art projects, I decided to give this idea ago.

I printed off the pattern on some cardstock, and cut it out using an exacto knife:

Then, we removed the backing to the new shelf, and layed it out in the garage on a drop cloth. I decided to do this project on the back side of the backing, because that way if it didn't turn out, I could just turn it back over to the stock version.

I threw on a quick layer of spray primer to give the paint a little something to stick too. Then I snagged a roller and rolled on the Navajo White cabinet color:

And then using the bathroom wall color, I started stenciling away!

And an hour later, I had row numero uno done:

It was looking a little imperfect, but I knew no one would be looking at it super up close, so I kept moving along...

And 2 and a half hours later, it was done!

And installed back on the shelf:

Much better! And I was right, the little imperfections were not all that noticeable from a distance and once placed with shelves. I was so glad that I had invested the time, without investing any moola!!

So then I organized the shelves with all the bathroom necessities!

Bath toys went into a wire basket I snagged on clearance from Target for 6 buckaroos:

And because I got a little nervous that the wetness from the toys would ruin the shelf, I laminated a piece of scrapbook paper and tossed it underneath. And it's on the top shelf, so no one would ever know it's there!

Next I tossed the toothbrushes into a little white vase I already had, and some Qtips and the kiddos hair supplies, into an the item I named top ten fave this month, the mason jar!

Extra rolls of toilet paper are now easy to find and access, straight across from the "throne", in a wire basket I stole from another bathroom:

Soap was tossed into a coffee mug and placed next to a plant:

And the bottom two shelves corral wash clothes and extra towels!

It's so super fantastical how much storage was gained with the shelf. Life just got WAY easier! YES!

The sink area was just freshened up with some accessories borrowed from around the house:

Jennifer, It's looks so fresh and new. You remind me of my sister. She is so clever with organizing stuff and finding cute storage ideas.

My bathroom is actually smaller than yours. My small vanity has no drawers and there isn't much space between the toilet and vanity and toilet and shower (it's same as yours). I like the shelf unit idea. Clever!

In my front bathroom my sister suggested putting the old bookshelf from my living room. I had already put embossed white on white wrapping paper on the back. That is where my daughter and I keep our extra girly do dads. Then the back bathroom (with the bathtub) is more sparse for her dad. It is pink though. lol

Fantastic job! I love the makeover, and stenciling the back of the storage shelf's backing was a smart move - if you ever get tired of the blue pattern (or if you move it to a different room), you can just flip it back over. Awesome!

Val, I snagged the template from this blog: http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/2010/05/quatrafoil-painting-project-with-free.html, a direct link to the template is here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4266276/quatrefoil.png

Great job! It turned out so pretty. LOVE the stenciling. So I have to ask, do you just have one plastic tub full of stuff in the bathroom drawers? Or do you have several little tubs holding all the little knick knacks?

I am not sure what plastic tub of knick knacks you are referring too... in our main bathroom, I don't store any small items, other than a bin with the kiddos travel toothbrush holders and their toothpaste, and the other drawer just holds hand sanitizer and extra toiletry supplies.

As far as my personal "knick knacks" like my bobby pins and hair ties, I keep those in our master bathroom in an old face cleansing wipes bin.

Hope that helps? If you are looking for more specifics, just let me know!

Hi Jen, I have been reading your blog for a few weeks now, I can't remember how I came across it, but I just wanted to say that I love your little projects and makeovers - they always look great and most of the time I don't even know how you come up with such great stuff. Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with next. Thanks for putting a little bit of inspiration into my week. :)xox another Jen (but from Down Under)

Looks great! I too have small bathrooms so a bookshelf is a great idea to utilize the vertical space. I also love the idea of laminating scrapbook paper to line drawers -- it's much more practical and easier to clean then contact paper, which is what I currently have in my drawers. I may have to switch mine out, so I can easily pull the lining out to clean it when needed!

hi,i just saw your bathroom make over and it's wonderful.i need towel space in my bath,it's the same size as yours.however i feel the bookcase might stick out too much and people would be bumping into it too much.do you find this to be true for you?also do the wall cabinets that one can hang,can they hold bath size towels?right now my bath and hand towels sit on top of the toilet tank.thanks for any ideas you might have.

The cabinet has been working out swimmingly in the space to create oodles of storage and still allow for room in the bathroom to move around. {I actually just posted about it again here: http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/2011/06/oh-billy-concealing-cabinet-chaos.html}

I found that the shelves above the potty typically only fit hand towels vs. bath towels, which is why we opted for the narrow bookshelf instead!

Hi Jen, you are always full of wonderful ideas, and I was just curious if you have any suggestions on how to stow or organize appliances in the bathroom, such as blowdryer, flat iron and electrical razor. Thank you!

I'm 6 feet tall and my husband is several inches taller than me... WHY have I not utilized all the vertical space?! We certainly can reach it! Going to have to plan another trip down to IKEA. We have a bathroom smaller than yours (and it's the ONLY one in the house... with 4 kids!) so I'm a sponge when it comes to making the space work. Thanks for sharing your ideas. Any thoughts on how to add color? I have an all white bathroom, with some tan accents (that come from the tile floor and surround)... I like the white, it's crisp and clean but I'm not swoon-y when I walk into the room like I am with the laundry room which I just painted or the kitchen which I did over the past year. Suggestions? I kind of have a blank slate since it's all white :-)

I would just look for small touches that can bring in some color. Colorful hand towels and wash clothes, a pretty glass by the sink, candle votives, a patterned rug or decorative towel hooks. Some of the prettiest bathrooms I have seen are white with splashes of fresh color.

Thank you so much for taking a moment to join in the conversation! I read and sincerely appreciate each and every comment, however, I will remove any comment that I believe to be inappropriate, malicious or spam like. I would love for this comment section to be used as a place to engage in purposeful dialogue, and criticism/feedback is best received when shared constructively. This blog is my happy slice of the internet, let's keep it that way!